VIDEO: Winds, flooding mark Northeast storm

A winter storm that pounded the Midwest made its way up the East Coast Thursday, flooding parts of New Jersey and Cape Cod, Mass.

The slow-moving storm that’s been hanging off the coast for two days today again brought floodwaters into several Cape Cod towns, covering bridges and leaving drivers stranded.

In Stone Harbor, N.J., wind gusts peaked at 72 mph, according to Tim Keane, sales manager at Stone Harbor Yacht Sales. It’s the second-most-powerful windstorm he’s seen since moving to the area in 1999, following only Hurricane Sandy.

There was a lot of flooding, but peak tides were probably two feet lower than in Hurricane Sandy.

“I believe they got hit a little harder with flooding further south in this storm,” said Melissa Danko, president of the New Jersey Marine Trades Association, who lives in Point Pleasant, N.J.

“Everyone is definitely much more nervous now during storms like this, and there are still areas that are very vulnerable from the damage from Sandy,” Danko told Trade Only Today.

Click play for storm scenes from Cape Cod.

Several parts of the New Jersey coastline were already underwater Wednesday night, which prompted voluntary evacuations in Toms River and Brick while the Shrewsbury River flooded local streets in Sea Bright, according to ABC News station WABC.

Sustained winds of 30 to 50 mph were expected to last until this morning, which could bring 13-foot waves just offshore.

Still shaken from Hurricane Sandy, those along the shore are scrambling to protect the fragile coastline from the storm surge and beach erosion.

The high winds are expected to bring down power lines, as more than 2,000 people are without power in New Jersey as of 4 a.m., WABC reported. Power outages were expected to afflict several areas along the East Coast. Virginia declared a state of emergency: More than 250,000 people were without power at one point as tree branches gave way under the weight of heavy snow.

A home on a Massachusetts barrier island was ripped from its foundation and tipped toward the water. “We are going to see some damage out of this,’’ Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, told the Boston Globe this morning. “It’s coming in as advertised, a strong high tide. We are seeing things out there that could impact homes and really tear up some of these roads, not just deposit some water on them.’’

Boston suburbs had more than half a foot of snow this morning, and more was expected throughout the day.

More than 440 flights have been canceled for today, according to FlightAware.com. New York’s LaGuardia Airport has the most cancellations, followed by Newark Liberty International in New Jersey. This storm system has caused headaches for travelers, as more than 4,000 flights have been canceled so far this week.